When never ending war is combined with a perpetual state of emergency, you have a nation falling apart, something we see when driving over roads filled with potholes, seeing bridges rusting out and watching manufacturing jobs being sent overseas, never to return. On the emergency end of things, USA Todayhas it covered.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Depicted above is Darwin's first depiction of the evolutionary tree, drawn and written shortly after The Voyage of the Beagle ended, the only time this extraordinary naturalist ever traveled outside of England during his long life. When looking at this, one sees just how intimate the creative process truly is as Darwin struggled to understand the profound implications of evolution and how it applied to life on earth. In essence, it was the underdiscovered country writ large, discovered by a charming and decent man who was a genius in every sense of the word.

When reading The Voyage of the Beagle, a detailed and fascinating view of the world unfolds, written by an ever curious person wanting to know why things are the way they are. When reaching the Galapagos, the first inklings of the why started to issue forth, a notion coming to full fruition in 1859 when Darwin published The Origin of Species.

To yours truly, the word genius is often connected to IQ tests and specific abilities in a given discipline like math or music but this description seems too narrow as there are many people who possess these kinds of skills and more. To me, genius is the ability to make connections, to see relationships and be able to articulate how the relationships apply to the task at hand. Newton had this as did Jobs, Einstein, Miles and ... without question, Darwin.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Innovative tech, pioneered by ScanLAB combining videography, 3D laser scanning and 3D imaging, is both informative and eerie in an interesting sort of way. Sort of like Sin City on steroids if you ask me.

Izzy Stone is a hero of mine as he was relentless in digging out the dirt in DC. His I.F. Stone's Weekly was a must read to see how Governments lie, something that's gone on since the beginning of time but, this blurb is not about the weekly per se but rather about Earth Day and Stone's prescient comments about same.

BRT has talked about quantum computers since 2008 as the potential power of such systems defy imagination. From the Matrix to the ability to create reality in finite space, the tech is disruptive to the max but there are problems. How does one easily control qubits in precise fashion, how does one get them to work in silicon and how does one control said quibits at room temperature, three conditions fiendishly difficult to attain, until now.

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

BRT has talked quite a bit about the woeful US foreign policy and the negative impact it has had on the Middle East regarding the destruction of nations, shock & awe and the rise of ISIS, thanks to the aforementioned fubar known as US foreign policy. Now, comes a breakthrough that can get us out of the quagmire we have created if the so called leaders of the US are willing to make it happen, something yours truly thinks will happen based on the following info.

Monday, April 06, 2015

Yours truly, as my loyal readers know, is fascinated by chaosand how it applies to better understanding of how reality actually works. From the butterfly effect to fractals, the impact this set of disciplines has had on man's viewpoint on nature never ceases to amaze as this branch of science tangentially connects to all aspects of existence including that of the seemingly simple sandpile.

Without question, doing any exploration into chaos is akin to going down the rabbit hole as the paths this science takes in showing how nature works literally has no boundaries, something addictive to say the least. Seen below is the amazing nature of the sandpile seen from the digital perspective, :)

Yours truly is an avid cyclist who is acutely aware of how dangerous the sport can be, especially when it comes to numbnuts behind the wheel who remain forever oblivious to us rubes doing the environmentally cool thing of pedaling down the road. This danger is amped in the dark when seeing said cyclist becomes dangerville, until now. Thanks Chuck for turning me on to this.

Addendum: Wear a mirror and helmet whenever doing the deed. Both have saved my ass many times without question. :)

Friday, April 03, 2015

Way back in 2008, BRT talked about the survivability rate of civilizations in a blurb titled Zero-Sum regarding, in that case, the issue of water, the one indispensable for life as we know it, a resource becoming ever more depleted and polluted as we move further into the 21st century.